Tag Archives: INESAD News

As part of continuous growth, INESAD and Development Roast are bringing on board a host of new interns. Join us in welcoming our newest addition Valerie Giesen:

Valerie is currently studying Social Anthropology and Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. Before starting her degree, she facilitated informal education projects with the Instituto Politécnico Tomás Katari for children on the outskirts of Sucre for 15 months. Engaging with her Bolivian colleagues’ perspectives and being an outsider herself led her to question the effectiveness of external development actors. Also, living and participating in the social microcosm of the Mercado Campesino for over a year was a formative experience which sparked her interest in the issues that labor migrants face and the country’s current identity politics. This also led her to study Quechua at the University of Chuquisaca and learn how to spin wool, which opened many doors. During countless weekends on the market discussing the week’s events and listening to tales from the countryside, she decided to study Anthropology – hoping that it would allow her to repeat similar long-term stays abroad.

Back in Germany, Valerie coordinated fundraising activities for Bootschaft, an organization that builds floats from recycled material and hosts film screenings and workshops on the rivers of Berlin. This equipped her with the invaluable lesson that it is possible to build up viable projects even with few resources. Read More »

On April 4, 2013, INESAD’s Dr. Lykke Andersen and Osvaldo Nina gave a presentation to a consortium of students from Italian universities who visited INESAD as part of a project conducted by Giulia Maria Baldinelli of the Institute of Research and Training in Social Sciences (IRFOSS).

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In an article recently published by popular anthropology blog ‘PopAnth‘, INESAD’s Ioulia Fenton explores the importance of rituals and ceremonies in human society:

“But we agreed that ceremony and ritual are so foolish,” said Yankel to his daughter Brod in Jonathan Safran’s Everything is Illuminated as she took her place as the Float Queen in their town’s annual parade.

“But we also agreed that they are foolish only to those on the outside. I’m the centre of this one,” she replied.

Brod’s answer is a perfect illustration of the enjoyment and meaning that human beings extract from rituals. Anthropologists see rituals as actions performed mainly for their ceremonial value. In other words, it is what they represent that matters and not necessarily what they physically are. In many cases, rituals satisfy our need to be included by others since partaking in community rites inspires feelings of belonging and acceptance. We flock to support national teams at the Olympics, put on masks at Halloween and get very merry on Christmas; all activities that purposefully socialise us into our particular communities, cultures and even nations. Read More »

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Lykke Andersen’s Development Roast article The End of Growth? has been re-posted to Global Economic Intersection. Check it out HERE.

In addition, Ioulia Fenton’s Nourishing the Planet project piece entitled Five Types of Rainforest Ecosystem Services that Nourish People and Planet has been featured in Living Green Magazine. You can read the full article HERE.

Carolynn Look’s summary of the environmental accounting experiences in Europe were also re-posted to Global Economic Intersection. Check out the piece right HERE.

The 4^th Bolivian Conference on Development Economics:

The dominating event this month was the 4th Bolivian Conference on Development Economics (BCDE2012) which was held at the brand new EMI campus in La Paz on the 6^th and 7^th of November.

The Brazilian Embassy kindly hosted a Cocktail Party the evening before the conference to welcome all the presenters coming from 11 different countries on 4 continents.

Eduardo Lora from the Inter-American Development Bank opened the conference with a very stimulating keynote lecture on the importance of going beyond facts and incorporate perceptions into economic theory and practice.  The second keynote lecture was given by Rodrigo Soares from PUC-Rio who presented convincing evidence that cash transfers to poor families with teenagers in Sao Paola significantly reduce crime.

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Tracey Li has an unusual background for an INESAD intern. She has been passionate about science all her life and studied physics at university before going on to complete a PhD in theoretical particle physics. Afterwards she continued her career as a researcher in Valencia, Spain, where she worked for two years.

At some point she realised that although she still loved physics there were several reasons why she didn’t want to be an academic scientist for the rest of her life. One of the main reasons was a growing desire to use her skills to solve real-world problems that could improve people’s lives in some capacity, rather than abstract mathematical ones. Read More »

This week, INESAD’s Ioulia Fenton published the following post about INESAD’s intern team on On Think Tanks:

One thing has become undeniable over the last couple of decades, especially since the beginning of the current global crisis: Getting a foot on the career ladder is increasingly hard. Well qualified students and graduates need to build an ever greater portfolio of internships and volunteering experiences to set themselves apart from the rest. This has especially been the case in international and intellectual work in economics, development, sustainability and the like. In these areas, having a Masters degree in the subject is usually the absolute minimum requirement and  practical experience is a pre-requisite to getting a job, but finding descent research and other opportunities to facilitate that success—that do not require a full-time obligation and can be worked around their studies and other commitments—is difficult at best. By offering remote, home-based internships think tanks can fill a niche and not only offer valuable experience to bright and committed young people, but draw tremendous benefits that build research, outreach and diplomacy capacity of the institution and host country itself. Read More »

As part of continuous growth, INESAD and Development Roast are bringing on board a host of new interns. Join us in welcoming our newest addition Garance Marcotte:

Garance is a recent graduate from Universidad Torcuato Di Tella where she obtained her Master’s degree in International Relations. Her fields of interest are sustainable development, renewable energies and human rights in Latin America.

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As part of our policy to promote international exchange and mobility, INESAD works with many associated researchers and interns both remotely and within our offices in La Paz. Join us in welcoming our new La Paz-based intern, Mieke Dale-Harris:

Mieke is a psychology gradute from Goldsmiths University of London. During her travels around Latin America over the last five years, she has developed a passion for development issues, a love for Latin America, and even an interest in economics.    Read More »

As part of continuous growth, INESAD and Development Roast are bringing on board a host of new interns. Join us in welcoming our newest addition Allan Spessoto:

Allan is a student of International Development at York University, Toronto. His interests for social issues emerged at the end of high school in Brazil, when he encountered inspiring teachers and eye-opening documentaries. After that, he studied music for one year but decided to go abroad to learn more about global politics and justice, which later became his primary interest. Read More »